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They are the spirits that fill the Staples Center, a building that may not be as storied as some, but home to one of history’s great NBA teams.

And while the Los Angeles Lakers may be, for them, on a downward trend, there is still something about them that resonates with — and may intimidate — opposing teams.

The Lakers haven’t won a championship nor played for one since 2010, they struggled through the ugliness of the Dwight Howard season, and they are now not even assured of being a playoff team let alone legitimate title contenders.

But they still are the Lakers, and there is still a mystique.

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“They’re probably going through a building situation now, like a lot of the teams in the league are, but they’re still the Lakers,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey, who’ll try to figure out how to beat them when the teams play Sunday night.

“You see all those banners hanging up in the rafters, all the championships, Jerry West’s logo on the backboard, it is (imposing). A couple of years ago (as assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks), we played them in the playoffs and you felt that mystique of them, every team feels it when you go in there.”

So regardless of where the Lakers are in the standings, they are still the Lakers in the minds of people around the league — and it’s been like that for decades.

DeMar DeRozan grew up in Los Angeles, lionized the Lakers, became fast friends with Bryant and understands better than most what the franchise is about.

“When I was growing up, I grew up in the era of Magic and playing in the Forum,” he said. “I remember when I was a kid, I wanted just drive by the Forum and feel some kind of wave.

“They were just that Showtime type of team that you just grew up watching and growing up when they were winning the championship, it felt like that’s all the city had. You had no choice but to be a fan and you felt like you were a part of that, riding around with the flags on your car.”

The current incarnation of the Lakers is led by a transcendent star, just as all the other championship teams were. And while this team is a long way from title contention, to suggest that it’s another run-of-the-mill NBA team is missing the point.

The Lakers are still Hollywood and glitz and glamour, and they still have the certain something about them.

It will be on display Sunday night, without a doubt, when they get back one of the iconic names in franchise history. While the intimidation factor of the ghosts and history is one thing, Bryant is quite another.

Two hundred and forty days after ripping his Achilles tendon, the future Hall of Famer returns to game action, providing one of the most compelling storylines of the NBA season.

The 35-year-old Bryant, who signed a two-year, $48-million contract extension even as he was rehabbing from his injury, continues in that long list of Lakers greats. What does Bryant do for a team that somehow stayed afloat in the hypercompetitive Western Conference in his absence?

“He’ll be a dominant player,” coach Mike D’Antoni said when news of Bryant’s returned filtered out. “He can play below the rim, above the rim, beside the rim. I mean, the guy can play any way. He’ll figure out how he’ll be effective and then he’ll come at you with everything he’s got. That’s been his M.O., and I think that’s what he’ll do.”

Bryant is precisely the kind of star that has been associated with the Lakers franchise forever. Strong-willed and dominant, he is the face of a team that’s always had one.

“People always say he’s a bad teammate or this or whatever, but one thing about him: He’s going to push you to be best you can be, play to your highest potential,” said DeRozan. “The same way he approaches the game, understand he’s going to go out there playing hurt, playing banged up, playing whatever it is.

“He’s a no-excuse guy so he wants the other four guys on the court to be the same as he is.”

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